TECHNOLOGY VENDOR EVALUATION — COMPARABLE PROPOSAL WORKSHEET

Editable worksheet — adapt to the actual scope and company.
Version: 2026-09-10

DEFINE THE PURCHASE
Business decision or outcome: [ ]
Scope, exclusions and participating internal owners: [ ]
Required deliverables and acceptance evidence: [ ]
Dependencies, working hours and location constraints: [ ]
Non-negotiable requirements and why they matter: [ ]

SET CRITERIA BEFORE REVIEWING PROPOSALS
Choose criteria relevant to the purchase; assign weights totaling 100 if using weighted scores.
Score meanings: 0 = demonstrated mismatch; 1 = weak evidence; 2 = adequate evidence; 3 = strong relevant evidence.
Use U for unknown. Never silently convert U to a favorable score or hide it in an average.
Separate a mandatory requirement failure from weighted preferences.
For each score record the supporting evidence, reviewer and remaining question.

REPEAT THIS RECORD FOR EACH PROVIDER
Provider and named delivery lead: [ ]
Proposal version, date and validity: [ ]
Relevant project evidence and permission to verify references: [ ]
Scope understanding — score / weight / evidence: [ ]
Assigned team capability — score / weight / evidence: [ ]
Availability and delivery approach — score / weight / evidence: [ ]
Acceptance and testing approach — score / weight / evidence: [ ]
Operating support and handover — score / weight / evidence: [ ]
Commercial clarity — score / weight / evidence: [ ]
Unknowns / evidence requested / response deadline: [ ]
Mandatory requirements met, failed or unverified: [ ]

NORMALIZE THE COMMERCIAL COMPARISON
Assessment fees: [ ]
Implementation fees and assumptions: [ ]
Recurring support and third-party service costs: [ ]
Internal team effort required: [ ]
Travel, taxes or other applicable exclusions to confirm: [ ]
Change-request pricing and approval process: [ ]
Supplier incentives, referral relationships or lock-in dependencies: [ ]
Compare the same time period, scope and workload assumptions across providers.
Do not describe a lower headline fee as lower total cost without checking exclusions.

DELIVERY AND EXIT QUESTIONS
Who owns accounts, code, diagrams and operating records? [ ]
Who may approve production changes and how are they verified? [ ]
What evidence demonstrates acceptance of each output? [ ]
Who operates the result and what support is actually included? [ ]
What is transferred at exit and how is access reviewed? [ ]

DECISION
Preferred option and evidence-based reasons: [ ]
Alternative considered and tradeoff: [ ]
Unresolved conditions before appointment: [ ]
Decision owner, date and review point: [ ]
Keep original proposals and scoring records so another reviewer can follow the decision.

Related guide: https://fractionalctoexperts.com/outsourced-cto-services